Whole Foods

[quina]

What foods - not supplements - are beneficial to skin health? Are there specific fruits and vegetables that contain more beneficial skin nutrients? What other foods besides fruits and vegetables are beneficial?

[drtodorov]

I have never seen a controlled randomized study where the active group was put on a skin-foods diet and controls on regular diet and later compared.

Therefore, any advice on "skin foods" is a speculation based on the follwoing premises:

1) Certain nutrients are beneficial to the skin if applied topically and so perhaps if ingested they might help too. Whether that's valid and for which nutrients is largely unclear. For example, it does not seem to be valid for vitamin C. Oral vitmain C does not bring the same benefits as topical vitamin C.

2) Foods that are good for general health must be good for the skin too. Well, it is good to consume those food anyway. So why don't eat them regardless, and if they happen to be good for the skin too -- all the better.

That said, based on mostly theoretical considerations, here are some examples of foods likely to be good for the skin:

Cold water fish high in omega 3 fatty acids (e.g. salmon), olives & olive oil, tomatoes, berries (such as blackberry), green tea, apples, misc colored fruits and veggies.

See also my article on diet here: http://www.smartskincare.com/nutrition/diet.html

[rainybutterfly]

Green tea is my absolute favorite drink and it has awesome benefits too. I totally agree with the doc.

[cjdavis]

Dr. T,
How do you feel about just using a high quality green tea extract for health/skin benefits? Some products now are standardized to a whopping 60% egcg. I know we need controlled studies (although as you have previously mentioned the morbidity studies as always correlational) but theoretically since one 500 mg capsule of a potent 60% egcg green tea extract is equal to several cups of brewed green tea, couldn't all of the health benefits afforded to green tea be procured from the powdered extract?

[violinist1225]

[jamesherried]

There's a book out called "Eating for Beauty" (forgot the author's name) I was just reading it at Tower Records the other nite,and it has a lot of useful info that would help answer your question. And a lot of it seems to be backed by science.

[jamesherried]

[drtodorov]

[George]

Here's another take on this... One could argue that the nutrients found in food are better for your skin than the same nutrients you see in topical applications.

The nutrients you get from food are taken through an extraordinarily complex bio-synthesis in order for your body to use them as intended by nature. The digestive process is designed specifically to extract the nutrients that your body (skin) needs to be healthy.

It is very difficult to take a food substance and extract/synthesize only the components that will benefit skin and then stabalize the final product for topical application. And after all that, then the product must be able to be absorbed into the physiological system, and used for it's intended purpose.

Wow - that was a mouthful - sorry. :)

But my point is that I think the question is an important one for a simple reason - we should be spending much more time considering what nutrients we ingest for great skin, and less time trying to decide on which topical application we should use (not to mention spend lots of money on).

My rule of thumb - A healthy diet (high fiber, low fat) and active lifestyle will go much farther than any cosmetic will ever hope to.

(Of course, you still need to Cleanse => Tone => Moisturize => Protect - everyday.)

George

[Jen]

Does anyone have any experience with the effects probiotics have on the skin?

[violinist1225]

[blackandtan]

I heard that about 70% of what you put on your skin is absorbed. Fruits, tea and vegetables are beneficial to your skin. For home spa treatments I too like to use Green Tea bags, which is a fantastic antioxidant and put them on my face while in a bath.

Not only does Green Tea fight free radicals, that cause internal and external aging, but also have beneficial effects on the entire body.

7 Benefits of Green Tea:

1. Stops the unnatural formation of blood clots which if not taken care of will cause thrombosis. Thrombosis is one of the main causes of strokes and heart attacks.
2. Reduces high blood pressure by repressing angiotensin II which causes constriction of the blood vessels causing high blood pressure.
3.Lowers blood sugar, the polyphenols and polysaccharides are the two main antioxidants are especially effective in lowering blood sugar, which helps prevent and relieve type-two diabetes.
4. Boost your immune system function because of its high concentration of polyphenols and flaveboids.
5. Helps your body to maintain healthy fluid balance and relieve fatigue and stress often caused by dehydration.
6. Blocks main receptors that produce allergic reactions.
7. Stimulates metabolism, calorie burning process and is wildly being used as an important part of a healthy diet.


also, eating plenty of fruits like pomegranates, oranges and eating raw green vegetables like kale, are loaded with antioxidants that help fight free radicals. :D

[blackandtan]

not to be like advertising but i bought an eye brightening cream from this company that says it uses only foods in their products. you can probably learn more about them from befinefoodskincare.com. How legit is this? one of their products uses green tea as a main ingredient in it. :?: